#SELMA50

A bipartisan group of politicians and public officials, including President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (Democrats), former President George Bush, former First Lady Laura Bush (Republicans), members of congress, Alabama Governor Bentley, and the late Governor George Wallace’s daughter, Peggy Wallace Kennedy joined heroes, like Congressman John Robert Lewis, and a racially mixed group of citizens to commemorate and honor the ordinary people who stepped up in an extraordinary manner to fight for full citizenship for African-Americans in the 1960s.

Much like President Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address, President Barack Obama delivered a speech which will be referenced by future generations for its clarity and for providing a historical perspective of the events that took place on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

While honoring the Civil Rights fighters who were willing to give their lives in the battle for their right to vote, and the right of self-determination for future generations; President Obama noted that Americans of all races, religions and nationalities were moved to join the battle in Selma fifty years ago. The President, also, noted the universal appeal of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. And, like Lincoln, President Obama ended his speech with a call for unity, proclaiming actions that “we, the people” must take in the future as we strive to build “a more perfect union.”

Yet, in the shadow of Ferguson, it remains to be seen if this president will be as successful as Lincoln in holding this wounded nation together.